Cipher’s board of directors has decades of experience and a proven record of success in all facets needed to efficiently develop and commercialize dermatology products.
Dedication to our vision is paramount to our success as we expand our product offerings and presence in North America.
Director
Mark Beaudet is a co-founder of Paladin Labs Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on acquiring or in-licensing innovative pharmaceutical products, which was acquired by Endo International plc in 2014 for approximately $3.0 billion. Since Paladin’s founding in 1996, Mr. Beaudet served as a member of its board of directors and as the company’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing until 2011 when he became President and Chief Executive Officer. Following Endo’s acquisition of Paladin, Mr. Beaudet joined the Endo International plc executive leadership team and continued to lead the Paladin team until his departure in June 2016.
Prior to his work with Paladin, Mr. Beaudet held marketing management positions at Procter & Gamble Canada and Pizza Hut Canada. Mr. Beaudet is a member of the board of directors of the McGill University Health Center Foundation, Loyola High School and the Loyola High School Foundation. Mr. Beaudet also serves on the board of Altus Formulations Inc., a privately held drug formulation and development company. He is a former member of the board and former Chair of the Regulatory Affairs Committee of Innovative Medicines Canada (formerly Rx&D – Canada’s Research Based Pharmaceutical Industry Association).
Mr. Beaudet holds a B.Comm in Marketing and Entrepreneurship from McGill University and is recognized as a Certified Market Research Professional (CMRP) by the Canadian Market Research and Intelligence Association and as an Accredited Pharmaceutical Manufacturer’s Representative by the Council for Continuing Pharmaceutical Education (CCPE). In 2003, Mr. Beaudet was a co-recipient of the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in the Quebec Life Sciences Sector. In 2015, Mr. Beaudet was inducted into the Canadian Healthcare Marketing Hall of Fame.
Director
Mr. Deboeck is currently the Founder, Vice-President and General Manager of Galephar Pharmaceutical Research, Inc. and President and Principal Investigator of Galephar Research, Inc. (collectively, “Galephar”). Galephar is a Puerto Rico-based pharmaceutical research company with oral and pulmonary drug delivery technology, formulation, and manufacturing expertise. Galephar has developed and licensed to Cipher various pharmaceutical products and manufactures products for Cipher.
Mr. Deboeck has more than 45 years of experience in the pharmaceutical field of drug delivery. He received his education as a chemical engineer from the Institut Meurice Chimie, Brussels, Belgium and a Galenic Pharmacy degree from the University of Liege, Belgium.
Director
Mr. Godin is the former Head of Equities at Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc., a Montreal-based investment firm, and previously sat on its board of directors. He was also a member of the Management Committee of Montrusco. Prior to joining Montrusco in 2001, Mr. Godin worked for Merrill Lynch Canada where he was a director and senior equity research analyst. He also worked for Midland Walwyn Capital and CTI Capital.
Mr. Godin holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Université du Québec à Montréal and a Master of Science in Administration specialized in Finance from HEC Montréal.
Director
John Mull, MD, is CEO of Typhon Group Limited, a private equity capital corporation. Dr. Mull is the founder and former CEO of Cipher Pharmaceuticals Inc., as well as CML HealthCare Inc., Pharma Medica Research Inc. and Starplex Scientific, Inc. In those capacities, he has been involved in more than 30 merger and acquisition transactions. Cipher and Pharma Medica were subsidiaries of CML prior to CML’s conversion to an income trust in 2004. At the time, CML was one of the largest operators of medical diagnostic and medical imaging facilities in Canada and the United States. Its peak market capitalization exceeded $1.4 billion. CML merged with LifeLabs Medical Laboratory Services in 2013.
Dr. Mull is a graduate of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, and completed his training in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor). He is certified in Pathology by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons and in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology by the American College of Physicians and Surgeons. His original investigative research work in those fields involved publication of 15 papers in various medical journals. Dr. Mull’s experience in practice as a staff pathologist at hospitals in South Western Ontario convinced him that healthcare providers required high-quality medical diagnostic services not then available. He founded CML in 1971 to address that need.
Director
Mr. Tessarolo joined Cipher as President & Chief Executive Officer of Cipher on April 17, 2017. Mr. Tessarolo most recently held the position of Vice President & General Manager with Celgene Corporation, where he was responsible for leading their U.S. Inflammation & Immunology business. He contributed to the substantial expansion of the U.S. business in 2016, which was led by the rapid growth of Otezla for plaque psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis.
Prior to joining Celgene in September 2015, Mr. Tessarolo led the launch of Actavis, plc’s Canadian Specialty Pharmaceutical Division, serving as President & General Manager – Canada of Actavis Specialty Pharmaceuticals Co. Under his leadership, Mr. Tessarolo established a Canadian business of over 140 employees and $190 million in revenues, leading his team through several new product launches and the successful integration of multiple company acquisitions, including Warner Chilcott, Forest Labs, and Allergan.
Prior to joining Actavis in 2011, Mr. Tessarolo held a number of positions of increasing responsibility with Biovail Pharmaceuticals Canada, culminating in his appointment to the position of Vice President and General Manager. Mr. Tessarolo had direct oversight and accountability for country strategy, operations, business development and financial responsibilities for each of the Canadian entities he has led.
Mr. Tessarolo received his B.A. in Economics from Carleton University and has attended the Advanced Management Program for General Management at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan.
Director
Mr. Wolkin is an accomplished investment banker and financial analyst with over 30 years of experience. Mr. Wolkin joined BMO Nesbitt Burns as a senior research analyst in 1983. He went on to serve as managing director in the Diversified Industries Group of BMO Capital Markets until January 2008. Most recently, Mr. Wolkin served as Executive Vice-President and Head of Investment Banking for Dundee Capital Markets. Mr. Wolkin has served on a number of public company and not-for-profit boards and currently serves as a director of Diamond Estates Wines & Spirits and Baylin Technologies Inc. He was the past President of the CFA Society of Toronto and has been a member of the Chartered Financial Institute since 1980. He is a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors.
Director
Dr. Rulleau is currently a partner at CTI Life Sciences, a biotech venture capital firm that makes investments in high quality emerging life sciences companies at the pre-clinical, clinical and revenues stage in Canada and the U.S. In her capacity as a partner, she is serving on Boards of Directors of both private and public companies in North America.
Prior to this role, Dr. Rulleau served as Vice-President Business Development of Univalor, the technology transfer office of the Université de Montréal, from November 2011 to November 2014. Under her leadership at Univalor, more than 40 licenses with industry partners were signed and eight companies were formed. Prior to joining Univalor, Dr. Rulleau served as Chief Executive Officer of HLA-G Technologies, a biotechnology start-up based in France.
Dr. Rulleau also has over 10 years of experience as a health sciences analyst at a several Canadian investment banks where she was involved in numerous transactions such as mergers and acquisitions, IPOs and financings. Dr. Rulleau has a Masters in Biology from The Universite du Quebec and a Ph.D. from Montreal University executed at the Montreal Clinical Research Institute.